The Chronicle said it obtained an 18-page plan being circulated among Big Ten bigwigs.

• The Chronicle reports that an unidentified Big Ten "leader" said the conference could revoke Penn State's membership in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal that has shaken the football program. Currently, the Big Ten's 12-member Council of Presidents and Chancellors must approve any decision to suspend or expel one of the league’s schools.

• The Chronicle also said that the Big Ten is mulling a proposal that could give commissioner Jim Delany the power to fire coaches, administrators, etc. at member schools, should their actions "significantly harm the league's reputation." (National media members aren't impressed by that idea.)

• The Chronicle also reports that the Big Ten has no contingency plan should Penn State be banned from playing football in this or future seasons -- i.e. get the NCAA death penalty.

The Big Ten did not respond to requests for comment, but confirmed that the proposal — titled “Standards and Procedures for Safeguarding Institutional Control of Intercollegiate Athletics” — is being discussed.

“It is a working document intended to generate ideas, not draw conclusions,” according to an email sent from Big Ten headquarters to people in the league. “One provision in the document addresses ‘emergency authority of the commissioner’ -- it is just one of many ideas.”

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said the scandal has school presidents and ADs looking at ways to improve oversight and control.

“A lot of things have been discussed, but I have not been party to any conversation that would suggest the commissioner would have unilateral power to fire coaches,” Brandon told the Associated Press. "That’s kind of out of leftfield, and I don’t think the commissioner would want that kind of power. But what sounds reasonable to me is to create a mechanism in which the commissioner along with a committee of presidents and athletic directors had more oversight and control.”

Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas called the proposal “a work in progress.”

“I don’t know the exact language but I know there was some language in there related to personnel matters and consequences, should there be issues of a certain magnitude that requires action,” Thomas said.

Georgia coach Mark Richt said he didn’t see a problem with giving a league commissioner such power.

“I would think the commissioner is going to do what’s in the best interest of the league, in the best interest of the people involved,” he said. “I would say for him to have the right to do that, for her to have the right to do that, is fine. Doesn’t mean they have to, but they would have the right to do that. It’s just one more check and balance in a system that certainly — I would just say it would make sense to me.”